The Arden Theatre Company's F. Otto Haas Stage is a dramatic renovation of an existing building in Old City Philadelphia. Opened in 1998, the Haas Stage is a fully flexible, 375-seat theater created within a 19th-century warehouse structure. In the three years since its first production, the mainstage has allowed the Arden to greatly expand its artistic range and audience base, while contributing to the resurgence of an historic neighborhood. What follows is the evolution of the design and construction process for this unique project.
An architect describes the evolutionary process behind the recent restoration and renovation of a Philadelphia theater.
by Richard L. Maimon
The Arden Theatre Company's F. Otto Haas Stage is a dramatic renovation of an existing building in Old City Philadelphia. Opened in 1998, the Haas Stage is a fully flexible, 375-seat theater created within a 19th-century warehouse structure. In the three years since its first production, the mainstage has allowed the Arden to greatly expand its artistic range and audience base, while contributing to the resurgence of an historic neighborhood. What follows is the evolution of the design and construction process for this unique project.
Background
The Arden Theatre Company is a professional regional theater founded in 1988 by Terrence J. Nolen, Aaron Posner and Amy L. Murphy. In its 12 years of operation, the Arden has mounted 60 productions and has seen its subscription base grow to nearly 7,000. The first two seasons were housed in the 70-seat Walnut Street Theatre Studio. In 1990, the Arden co-founded St. Stephen's Performing Arts Center, creating a 150-seat space within an underutilized church parish house. Five seasons later in March 1995, the building in Old City was acquired, offering over 40,000 square feet in an increasingly vibrant, historical district.
Existing Building
Dating to the latter part of the 19th century, the existing building at 40 North 2nd Street is composed of two parts: a three-story warehouse (two stories and basement), fronted by a retail/office structure. Various occupants have been housed in the building over the years, including a postal facility, a marine equipment warehouse and most recently, a technical trade school. The building is constructed of loadbearing brick walls (exterior) and a heavy timber structure (interior). While structurally sound, the building was subject to indifferent maintenance and poorly conceived renovations during its previous incarnations.
Given the Arden's needs and funding availability, renovations were planned in successive stages. The size and configuration of the building allowed discrete projects to be designed and constructed while portions of the building were occupied. Upon acquisition, the initial goal was to move production to the new site by September 1995. The first project, designed by David Slovic, created a 175-seat black box theater (the Arcadia Stage), a double-height lobby and box office, dressing rooms, rest rooms and accessibility improvements. Existing spaces in the rear third of the building were occupied on an ad hoc basis for offices and rehearsal uses.
F. Otto Haas Stage
KieranTimberlake Associates LLP was engaged by the Arden to design the renovation of the new mainstage theater. The project began by intensively surveying and studying the existing space in order to select the ideal volume for the new theater from the point of view of both theatrical production and architectural design. Prior to the renovation, this space was divided horizontally by a second floor and vertically by wood columns on an 18-foot grid. As a black box theater, the new space would not be equipped with a fixed stage nor fixed audience seating. The proportions of the new theater, therefore, would have to allow for complete flexibility in audience-to-stage layout, as well as set design and lighting, all within the constraints of the existing building.
The guiding principle for the project was to create a fully flexible space defined by its systems and the industrial character of the existing building. Unlike a proscenium theater, where plays are viewed through a 'window" from within a decorated hall, the Haas Stage allows any and all parts of the room to be occupied by the play. In a sense, it is a traditional theater turned inside out. The audience is brought backstage, while the actors emerge into the house. The design process consisted of an investigation into appropriate systems and methods to allow the new space to be created and served, and the organization of these multiple systems into a coherent whole. The steel structure, ductwork and existing masonry walls, as well as the mechanics of stagecraft, are fully exposed to view and so, effectively, is the architecture. The result is a space that serves as a background for theater; the plays themselves define the foreground.
Structural System and Construction Process
To yield the required flexibility, an entirely new structural system was designed to support the existing walls and roof; it also served to allow removal of the second-floor structure and column grid. The new structural system consists of concrete foundations below the basement floor, vertical steel columns running from the foundations to the roof level, and horizontal steel trusses spanning between the columns and supporting the roof. The new structure was inserted within the existing building while the Arden continued to operate and present productions in the Arcadia Stage. The steps in this unusual process were as follows:
- Excavating foundations at the basement level by hand and pouring concrete foundations;
- Lowering steel columns through penetrations in the roof and floors to the basement foundations;
- Assembling truss segments at the existing second floor (such that the second floor acted as a scaffold);
- Jacking the existing roof structure off each column and re-supporting the roof on the new trusses;
- Removing wood columns running from the second floor to the roof and removing the second floor deck;
- Removing wood columns running from the first floor to the second floor.
During this process, other systems were installed, including sprinklers, lighting and ductwork for heating and air conditioning. Upon completion of the major systems, catwalks were put in place to allow full accessibility to the room for lighting positions and rigging. Movable audience seating platforms, designed by the Arden's production manager, were then installed. Construction began in June 1997. A Midsummer Night's Dream inaugurated the Haas Stage in March 1998. Since the initial production, three configurations have been successfully put to use: thrust, proscenium and arena. Subsequent phases of renovation have included dressing rooms for the mainstage and upgrades to the offices and box office. Currently under design are a multipurpose space adjacent to the lobby and a marquee for the 2nd Street façade.
Visit the Stage Directions® magazine site at www.stage-directions.com
Credits and Captions from Original Article
Photo Legends; Inside the F. Otto Haas Stage, the renovated venue of Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Company; Another perspective of the Haas interior; Varying scenes of construction; The outside entrance; Photos courtesy of KieranTimberlake Associates LLP; Richard L. Maimon is an architect with KieranTimberlake Associates LLP, who oversaw the renovations at the Arden Theatre Company.
read more
